“Mickey” Wraps Filming at Little League Headquarters

Hundreds of fans, mostly
Williamsport area residents, turned out to be extras during the filming.
Here, a scene is set at Howard J. Lamade Stadium, site of every Little
League Baseball World Series since 1959.

“Mickey,” starring Harry Connick Jr., is an original screenplay written by best-selling author John Grisham, who played Little League Baseball in Southhaven, Miss., in the 1960s. Other portions of “Mickey” were filmed in and around the Richmond, Petersburg and Charlottesville, Va., areas.

Seated on the couch in one scene is Gabe Campana, a city councilman in
Williamsport, Pa. Mr. Campana is the stand-in for actors Richard
Fullerton and Harry Connick, Jr.

A film crew of about 100 spent 12 days in the Williamsport area, staying at hotels and dining at local restaurants. Hundreds of local residents were hired as extras, dozens were paid as specialty extras, and some were hired for speaking roles. Several of the child actors were housed in Penn College dormitories.

“Mickey,” directly contributed nearly $200,000 to the Lycoming County economy in less than two weeks, according to Jason Fink, Director of Tourism for the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce. Visitors who were used as extras came from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.

A smaller crew from “Mickey” will return in August to film some scenes from the Little League Baseball World Series (Aug. 17-26). The film is tentatively scheduled for release in early summer 2002.

Mr. Connick plays Tripp Spence, a widower who finds himself on the run with his 12-year-old son, Derrick, who is a baseball phenomenon. The film is directed by Hugh Wilson, director of “The First Wives Club,” “Guarding Tess,” “Blast from the Past,” among other hits. “Mickey” is tentatively scheduled for release in early summer of 2002.

In “Mickey,” Tripp Spence and Derrick decide to assume new identities and flee to Las Vegas, forcing Derrick (whose new name is Mickey), to forego his final year of eligibility in the Major Division of the local Little League in Virginia. But Mickey’s new identity makes him a year younger, and he plays in the following year as a 12-year-old, believing that the fraud will end with the final game of the regular season.

They don’t count on the fact that the league they’ve joined in Las Vegas is about to have a dream season, and its all-star team - led by Mickey - will have a chance to reach the pinnacle of youth sports: the Little League Baseball World Series in Williamsport, Pa. The Cuban government, the CIA and a U.S. senator are also involved in the tale.

Shawn Salinas (“All That,” Nickelodeon), an actor/athlete from California, plays the title role. The role of Tony, Mickey’s coach, is played by Mike Starr (“Dumb and Dumber,” “Ed Wood,” “Mad Dog and Glory,” “On Deadly Ground” and “The Bodyguard”). Michelle Johnson (“Death Becomes Her,” “Far and Away”) plays the school principal where Mickey and his father end up in Las Vegas.

Mike Starr ("Dumb
and Dumber," "Goodfellas") stars in "Mickey" as
Tony, the coach who takes his team all the way to the Little League
Baseball World Series.

“Every dad who coaches his son dreams of just one more year of Little League. That’s how the story of ‘Mickey’ began. It started as a book,” Mr. Grisham, who is the world’s best-selling author in the past 10 years, with more than 100 million books in print, said. “But the more I wrote the clearer the images became. The book turned into a movie.”

Mr. Grisham’s first novel, “A Time to Kill,” was published in 1988 while he was a practicing attorney and a member of the Mississippi state legislature. His next novel, “The Firm,” spent 47 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. It was made into a movie starring Tom Cruise, and the film became one of the biggest hits of 1993. “The Pelican Brief,” starring Julia Roberts as a Tulane University law student, was released the following year and was another major hit. “The Client” and “The Chamber” enjoyed similar best-seller status, and in 1994 “The Client” became yet another hit film, this time with Susan Sarandon starring in a role that earned her an Oscar nomination.

John Grisham’s “A Time to Kill,” “The Rainmaker” and “The Chamber,” also have been adapted for the big screen. “Mickey” will be his second original screenplay to be made into a movie. The first was “The Gingerbread Man” in 1998. His most recent best-selling novel, “A Painted House,” is the story of 7-year-old Luke Chandler coming of age in rural Arkansas.

Hugh Wilson, who directs
"Mickey," also directed several hit films, such as
"First WIves Club," "Blast from the Past," and
"Guarding Tess." He also created the TV program, "WKRP
in Cincinnati."

Mr. Wilson has directed several box office successes, but also is known from his days in television. He was the creator of “WKRP in Cincinnati,” and wrote for the “The Bob Newhart Show.” This is his first project with Mr. Grisham.

“I have always wanted to make a baseball movie,” Mr. Wilson said. “John and I have known each other for some time, and when I read ‘Mickey,’ I knew this would be the one.”

Harry Connick Jr., has played a tailgunner in “Memphis Belle,” a college student in “Little Man Tate,” a serial killer in “Copycat,” a jet fighter pilot in “Independence Day,” and a leading man/love interest in “Hope Floats.” But he is best known for the musical sides to his personality: big band, New Orleans funk, classic American standards and jazz. He has numerous multi-platinum albums, is a Grammy Award winner and has been nominated for an Academy Award and an Emmy. He recently starred with Glenn Close in ABC’s remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” as Lt. Joe Cable.

Richard Fullerton,
seated, prepares for a scene playing the fictitious "Dr. Rupert
Sloan," president of Little League.

Only one other motion picture, “The Little Giants” in 1958, received permission to use the Little League trademarks. “The Little Giants” is the story of the Monterrey, Mexico, Little League team that won the Little League Baseball World Series title in 1957. The movie also was the last to be filmed substantially in the Williamsport area.

“We’re pleased that Mr. Grisham wrote his screenplay with Little League Baseball as the backdrop,” Mr. Keener said. “Little League rarely approves the use of its trademarks in films or on television. However, we believe that the positive moral message in ‘Mickey,’ as well as the outstanding reputation of Mr. Grisham, Mr. Wilson and the entire production company will reflect well on Little League.”